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Post by jeckal on Oct 6, 2009 14:21:40 GMT -4
Edwin Foxfield slowly opened his eyes. It had been a slow day and he had only 20 minutes earlier decided to try and get some extra sleep in; as per usual however, some noise or another had awoken him. He groaned as he pushed himself up, his arms getting that tightening feeling that comes with not being fully awake. He dragged himself off his mattress, stumbling a moment as he felt around for his glasses. A minute of blind searching latter and his brain had turned on enough for him to remember he had placed them on his desk.
Sitting down at the desk, he felt around the red wood top before finally probing out his thin framed glasses. Slipping them on he glanced at himself in the mirror that was on the wall to the left of his desk; his brown hair was scattered about but the only thing he did to fix this was push the bit that had fallen in front of his face back behind his ear. The glasses now sitting in front of his soft green eyes had finger prints all over the lenses, and in an action that was so ingrained in his muscles memories he pulled them off and wiped them on his black button down shirt whose pattern had green leaves and blue flowers all along it.
Finishing his ‘grooming’ Edwin slid upon a drawer on the right side of the desk, just below the top of it, and pulled out a leather bound warn out book. It was a copy of Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, the most recent book Edwin was reading in his attempt to get caught up on all important literature from when he died to present; having not had much time to read while in Soul Society, he was quite a bit behind, but was enjoying himself none the less. He was enjoying that book especially, for not only was it a good tale, it had a certain nostalgia about it, it brought back fresh memories of his life and the time he spent in the service of the East India Trading Company as a sailor.
He opened the book to where he had placed the tassel attached to the book spine, but after examining the digital clock that sat on the back of the desk pressed against the wall, he decided against trying to get a few pages in at that moment. “Evening time, guess I should probably make an appearance.” He mumbled as he put the book back in its drawer. Edwin did not necessarily go out of his way avoid people, most certainly not other Vizards, but he did spend a lot of time in his room simply because it was easier to read or sleep there. Taking a quick sip from a glass of water that had been on the desk and making a quick face at disgust that it had not only been warm, it also had dust floating on the top, Edwin got up and slipped on his jacket, a dark brown bomber jacket with white fur lining the inside and collar.
Slipping out his door, he had not taken two steps before turning and heading back into his room. Not that he necessarily needed it, but Edwin grabbed his Zanpakuto, Setsuyaku Ibuki and tied its sash to his his belt so that it was hanging on his left about mid thigh with the edge of the blade facing down. Edwin did not like being caught without it when it would actually be useful, so he always made sure to have it with him. Well, that and the fact that the spirit of the white tachi would probably lecture him for leaving her behind.
“Let’s try this again.” Edwin laughed to himself quietly as he once again slipped out his door and into the hall. Edwin carried himself with a very relaxed bearing as he made his way towards the main room, the former sanctuary of the cathedral which was now home to the Vizards. Edwin’s shoulders were slouched, his hands in his jacket pockets only brining them out to give a half wave and a smile at those who greeted him as he moved along. He didn’t make much noise as he walked; the soles of the rundown sneakers he wore were over used and smoothed, so even as he dragged his feet slightly no real noise was made.
Scratching his beard as he walked, he made a mental note to himself that he needed to trim it. That was something Kitsuno had always made sure to make him do, she could not stand it when his beard got unruly, which to her, was anytime it got longer than an inch from his face. Pondering on her a moment, Edwin could not really say that he missed her, which would always end up sounding cold hearted if he tried to explain it, but that was the truth.
It was just the way Edwin’s mind worked. The initial days after her death he had been devastated, almost complete paralyzed by the grief, but after a week he did not feel much sorrow, convincing himself only to think of the good times they had had, and after a month the good times were all he could remember. The feeling of missing someone was perhaps the most useless emotion, Edwin thought, and had worked to try to eliminate it from himself ever since he had almost turned into a hollow because of it.
Revenge also, Edwin did not think was terribly useful, but he had not been nearly as good as eliminating that from himself as he had been with the feeling of missing. Edwin regretted what he did to Kitsuno’s killer, the man had been on his back, harmless to him at that point, and he had still slit his throat. That had been quite a few years ago now, and there was really no point in focusing on regret, but Edwin would never try to remove the regret from his mind, it was a good reminder of what not to do again.
“Sleeping in the middle of the hallway Ed?” The voice caused Edwin to jump, not having noticed how long he had been reminiscing. The voice was from one of Edwin’s friends he had had sense first joining the Syndicate. Mitsu was a middle aged Vizard, tan, just starting to get a wrinkle or two, with black hair that was just starting to get its first grey. Edwin chuckled at himself for just spacing out life that.
“You know, got to grab sleep when you can.” He smiled, his white teeth looking even whiter when compared to the mess of brown that was his beard around them.
Mitsu shook his head and laughed a little, before holding up a finger as though he just remembered why he had searched out Edwin in the first place, “Oh! I’m heading out to town, wanna come?”
Edwin shook his head “Nah, not tonight, think I’ll hang around here”
Mitsu, not detoured by Edwin’s answer simply shrugged and went off to find someone else to hang out with. Mitsu liked to get hammered while around friends, and while Edwin found his friend amusing enough when drunk, it could get fairly boring watching someone else drink. Edwin never had a taste for alcohol himself, which thinking back surprised him a bit; he had been a tavern keeper’s assistant, and a sailor, neither profession really known for breeding those who abstained.
He quickly snapped himself out of his mind, not wanting to be zoning out in the middle of the hall again, and made his to the sanctuary. He glanced around, wondering who all was in that evening. He noticed some younger Vizards, and then Ash, Council member number 1. Moving to a distance he would not have to talk loudly, he greeted her, a tinge of concern in his voice.
“Hey, how are you feeling today?”
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Post by GoldenKitten on Oct 6, 2009 14:54:23 GMT -4
The orange light of a days end came filtering through the large central stain glass window of the cathedral. In the old days this would have been impossible to tell as the window itself would have converted that light into a myriad of colors. However in the structures current state of disrepair several holes in the window, not to mention the roofing itself, allowed natural light to filter in. Of course the Vizard that took up occupancy within repaired the structure from time to time and the inside was properly maintained but they allowed the outside to keep its decrepit appearance to ward off visitors. Few humans were brave enough to venture into the near haunted looking interior and in an amusing twist they had played the part of invisible ghosts to ward off the few who had mustered the courage from time to time. Either way though this combination of the old and the new gave the cathedral its own unique composition, and perhaps to some of the inhabitants its own charm, for it was home.
This room was the leaders quarters, the campus was big enough that all of the Council Members could have their own rooms and most of the regulars still only had to double up in the worst cases. But this room was special compared to all the rest. Not only because it was the central office but because despite being small having only a desk in one corner, a dresser in the other and a bed in front of the window, a long line of windows on the interior side provided a top-down look on the main interior room where most of the action happened. All of the Vizards little musings could be viewed, though admittedly the occupant rarely did so and was more often found amongst those below taking part in the action directly. On an aesthetic level there was little of interest to be seen beside the three pieces of furniture, a few antiques and girly cosmetics sat upon the dresser.
More importantly the light of the coming evening served as Ash's wake-up call. Admittedly she could have slept the rest of the night, the next day and perhaps quite a bit after that but she despised that laziness, even if it was validated in most peoples eyes. Instead the woman who was laying in a large queen sized bed next to the window moved a bowl of soup she had been slowly nursing throughout the day to the side and then tossed the covers off. She slowly forced her way out of bed, rolling her shoulders in their joints and then pressing off against the bed with a huge amount of strength until she finally forced her knees to bend and pushed off into a stumbling walk. Every step was like having liquid metal poured down the length of her bones but she responded with measured neutrality, you would never have known from the outside. Ash thought about nothing in particular as she fumbled through the dresser, found something to wear and began slowly pulling it on.
Looking at Ash, or Ashley as some still called her by her full name it was obvious she had once been a pretty girl. She still was of course but she had changed significantly for the worse since becoming a vizard some odd five hundred years ago, gradually decreasing in appearance and overall wellness to the state she found herself today. She was Caucasian and stood at roughly five foot seven and though she was once of average proportions she was now just short of anorexic, she also appeared anemic with excessively pale skin, massive dark raccoon circles under her eyes and a sickly purple hue to her nails and veins close to the skin. Her hair was dark brown and her eyes a deep and contrasting copper, both had lost their luster over time and her eyes always looked tired even if she acted otherwise.
She didn't bother thinking about it much but even if she tried not to when she could barely move as was currently the case her thoughts couldn't help but wander. In the back of her mind she could swear she heard the Flayed One gurgling to himself, it didn't pay much attention to her as it wasn't exactly sane or didn't think on the same plane most conscious beings did, but she was certain it was happy with its progress. It had all begun when she had become a Vizard, where most inner-hollows fought their host on a mental level for control and the physical take-over was the last step hers was the opposite. The Flayed One rarely met her in her inner world, instead it was as it called itself the “Embodiment of putrefaction and perfection”. From the moment of her ascension her body had been decaying from the inside and unlike a disease or even a normal inner-hollow there seemed to be no way to fight it, theory after theory had bee postulated by her more intelligent followers but none had proved accurate. Ash was never certain how much time she had or how it would end, but for the time being all she could do was treat it like having a chronic illness and do her best to feed her body with healthy things.
Wearing a long-sleeved gray knit sweater even though it was warm this time of year, matching pants and a pink wool beanie she grabbed a wooden cane next to the desk and opening her the door, walked out. This immediately lead to a spiral metal staircase that emptied out straight into the foyer of the building. She had long ago realized this was the stupidest place she could have chosen as staircases were the worst thing in the world for her joints, regardless she refused to move to the ground floor, some of her old self-reliance and pride stuck in her. There were several people in the room already, they greeted her but most of them didn't let their sight linger. It took Ash nearly a minute to make it down the stairs and most of the members of the Syndicate had long ago learned not to dwell on their leaders malady for their own self-assurance and for her self-regard. Once she made it to the ground floor she moved a little more freely unlike the near robotic motion of moving down the steps. She seemed to use the cane as a brace instead of a full on walking aid.
The polite nature these individuals showed her was not just for show either, all things considered Ash was treated with a familial reverence. A brilliant tactician, a brutal fighter and the reason almost all of these people were still alive and now found themselves free, Ash was all these things though you might not guess it. Despite her young appearance she was in effect the matriarch of everyone here and the way they treated her, along with her seemingly ancient presence seemed to back this up and cloak her unassuming appearance in something grander.
The Vizard while free to pursue their own personal goals rarely acted without her word and for the time being her word was simply to exist. She saw no reason for them to take part in the war between souls and had no real desire to see those she had spent her lifetime saving sent to the butchers field. Overall she cared for them like an older sister or mother and had the personality of such with most of them.
Most of the members within the room were simply sitting around in any number of chairs, talking or watching TV...or just minding their own business. However one group of younger members were apparently playing a game of hacky-sack in a corner, it wasn't something Ash was particularly interested in but she noted them. Her eyes crossed the room and fell upon one of several people she was looking for, honestly any of the council members would have done but Edwin happened to be the one in the room and she began moving toward him.
Just as she had started someone let out a cry from the side and she picked up a moving object in her peripheral vision. In a movement faster than the eye could see, belying her true nature she caught the arrant hacky-sack and tossed it back at the boy who had missed it in the first place. She completely forgot her own strength in the process and the speeding bean-bag knocked him square in the chest before he could react. He went flying several meters and landed flat on his back next to one of the other players, Ash was just about to start walking toward him to see if he was alright when he sat up and let out an almost unbelieving laugh. He looked at her for a moment and then spoke.
“Leader, you want to hack with us?”
Ash who had been sporting a look of worry saw that he was fine and instead morphed to eying him incredulously, “What self-respecting adult plays hacky-sack... at least if their not stoned?”
She shook her head once more and after the young ones had, had their laugh they went back to playing. She returned to her initial goal and went back to approaching Edwin. She liked this man, he was typically laid back but knew how to get things done when it was necessary. More importantly he seemed to share her relative neutrality about the other species, never instigating aggression unless it was deemed absolutely necessary. It seemed Edwin had been making his way toward her as well, and then before she could begin asked how she was.
She shrugged, staring off at a wall next to them, “The usual, insides burn like fire, eternal death...that sort of thing.” She looked back at him and cocked her head to the side with a smile, “I'm going to go do something, not entirely sure what yet, but want to join me?” Ash treated Edwin a bit different from most of the others, more like a friend than her child as he was significantly older and more experienced than the rest. One might have almost mistaken her cute little gesture as excessively girly and maybe even flirtatious but in reality it was simply a byproduct of her small frame and young (if sickly) appearance, things no amount of aging could lose for an immortal.
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Post by jeckal on Oct 6, 2009 18:59:37 GMT -4
Edwin could only somewhat the hide how sad he was to hear Ash was not feeling any better. Sure, it was unreasonable for him to think she would, but he really felt like she deserved at least one day of no pain. To tell the truth, Edwin all ways felt that he had let the sickly woman down. When he first learned of her situation soon after he had first joined the Syndicate, he had thought that maybe his Zanpakuto would be able to help her, but much to both Edwin and Setsuyaku Ibuki’s chagrin, the healing ability of his Zanpakuto was not able to help.
However Edwin’s usual smile returned to his face once she asked if he would join her in doing something. Edwin’s right hand retracted from his jacket pocket and scratched the back of his head as he chuckled a little, “Hahaha, not 3 minutes ago Mitsu asked me if I wanted to hang out with him,” He shook his head as his hand returned to his pocket, his voice indicating nothing but respect and fondness for the man he was referring to, “I didn’t feel much like watching him get drunk for the third time this week, but somethin’ certainly seems to want me to get out tonight.”
Noticing a bit of one of his finger prints still lingered in the top right of his right glasses’ lens, in the exact same movement as before, removed his glasses, and began wiping them off his shirt. His green eyes automatically squinted to the point they were almost closed as soon as he took his glasses off. He didn’t like having his glasses off, it left the world not a scant 5 feet in front of him in such a murky blur that he could only make out the vaguest of shapes. It had been a major problem for him in life, sure, there were ‘corrective lens wear’ back in his time, but it was a one size fits all deal, and his eyes were much to bad for it to be overly effective.
Edwin actually attributed his bad eye site and his formaly ineffective glasses for why he was so terrible at Zanpakuto training. He could only ever see what exactly others were doing at the last second, barely if even that, having time to block or dodge. That in itself was a blessing in disguise though, because it forced him to focus on Kido, which he just had to point at the murky shapes to get to work. With the nature of his Zanpakuto, Kido was the only real offense he had.
As he wiped off his glasses he continued, “Yeah, I’ll go out with erm…” He cut himself off, turning a bit red from his poor wording. Slipping on his glasses he began again, “What I mean is sure..haha..um… not sure what though.” If he was not so tired, he would have probably not been embarrassed at all, or even noticed what he had said. However he had woken up during a middle of the sleep cycle, and his mind still was not fully up and running.
“I guess we could just walk around in till something fun catches are eyes.” Edwin said, recovering from his embarrassment a s he talked, “Unless you’ve thought of somethin’ already.”
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Post by GoldenKitten on Oct 7, 2009 3:45:22 GMT -4
Ash wasn't fond of being pitied but she let it go, it wasn't as if Edwin had spoken out and the fact that he didn't say anything suggested the brief emotion he let cross his face was genuine. It was false sympathy that Ash disliked, the moral pandering society had ingrained in people telling them they had to sugar-coat things and be nice to certain people. That he had apparently felt something bordering on care but not spoke actually said volumes about his character unlike others in the syndicate that just coddled her for the sake of appearances. Given she was not one to lash out or speak down on anyone and usually let this slide no matter the case, but it at least boosted his standing in her mind above most others. Of course this was far from the first time the thought had crossed her mind, Edwin had been around for a while now and she had grown familiar with his character type. He wasn't free of stupidity and bad choices but then neither was she or anyone else for that matter, he was just at the top of the barrel.
Her eyes went blank and she cracked a bit of a wry smile as he groped for the right words after his mistake. Just like him she would probably never have noticed but now half the people in the room had. Regardless she said nothing about it, she knew how he was and while she didn't know the exact cause of the outburst she realized he was far to old to be having a teenage moment and had simply spoken strangely. Either way it made little difference, as long as he was willing to go that was fine by her. She had two reasons for usually bringing along a council member when she went out these days.
The first was that she simply enjoyed having company that could think along her level, intelligence born from experience. The second was because it had become harder for her to move properly as of late and fast actions caused extreme pain later on after the fact (and sometimes right during it), better to have someone there in the event of emergency to take care of little things. She could still fight if the situation called for it but generally she would let someone else do it for her now but being a Vizard she knew she and the others were bound to be targets once in a while, whether she approved of the violence or not.
Ash held a finger in the air as she turned around and began walking toward a row of lockers next to the entry door, “Good then first...” she thought for a moment, “I will find a pastry and coffee cafe, and then I will walk around poking random humans with my cane...or something...I'm not sure again.”
She reached the large lockers and approached the closest one to the door, right up next to it, it was obvious these lockers were nearly double the usual size. Leaning against the first locker was a machete, or at least it was in the shape of one but at nearly three feet long, not including the hilt, it was something else altogether. It was a plain construction with a black hilt and a silver blade, however the blade was painted with patterns similar to a tribal tattoo, on top of that it seemed the swirls were always moving yet if one attempted to concentrate on them this did not appear to be the case as they were static. There was generally a bad vibe about the Leaders zanpaktou, it was like it had a will and aura of its own and there was more than a little superstition amongst the members about going near it or touching it when it sat out in the open like that, some younger members had even turned it into something of a hazing occasionally. But then was it terribly surprising that a being with the gall to call itself Samael was perhaps a bit showy?
Either way seemingly uncaring about such things Ash simply holstered the blade along her belt-line in the back like any other blade. She then opened the locker exposing why they were so large, inside was a body, Ash's body. Or so it seemed, this gigai was modeled after how Ash had looked when she had come to the world long ago and still looked healthy and full of life, ironic considering nothing was currently in it. It was true that this had been made long ago but even so the fact that she kept it and did not update it to look as she did now suggested that despite her long life and seeming mental ascension she was still a girl and wasn't particularly proud of her appearance. Thus the gigai was something like her last remaining link to how she wanted to remember herself. She extended her pointer finger and touched the construct on the chest, a moment later she was sucked into it and the gigai opened its eyes.
The healthy Ash jumped out of the locker with renewed energy and raised her right hand in a peace sign, “Ready to go!” she said. A split second later she found herself practically keeled over as the body was wracked with a coughing fit and she had to grasp the arm she had carelessly thrown up with such great speed. When one wore a gigai there power level was cut considerably to anywhere between 1/10 and ½ of the users power depending on the make of the gigai. In addition pain or any sensation good or bad for that matter was cut by that amount as well, thus for a long time Ash had been known to get into the gigai to limit her pain and move around with greater ease. The fact that such a simple motion had created such an obvious outburst of distress was telling of the progression the hollows “disease” had made within her.
Limiting herself severely so she was only moving slightly faster than she had been in her true form Ash waved off a few concerned onlookers and then grasped a physical cane to aid in her walking from the locker before slamming the door. Just like her real body this gigai was wearing heavy winter clothes unfitting the season, these just happened to be a little more color coordinated and fashionable with whites and pinks strung throughout. Without another word Ash turned to the front door and struck it with her cane, despite what appeared to be a gentle blow the door flew wide open and slammed into the exterior wall with a good bit of force. It seemed despite her uncaring face Ash was actually angry on the inside but to anyway observant individual the reason was certainly apparent, try as she might to say it wasn't effecting her mentally it was clear that she was tired of being sick. She just wanted to feel like she had, be the person she was before...but she would never say it, because to these people that wasn't who she was.
“You coming Edwin?” she asked, forcing a smile as she looked back at him before waltzing off into the fading sunlight.
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Post by jeckal on Oct 7, 2009 22:42:21 GMT -4
Edwin’s smile widened as he laughed at the suggestion that they poke random people on the streets. His laugh was a very recognizable one, a series of somewhat high pitch (at least when compared to Edwin’s slightly monotonous baritone voice)”ha”s that would be cut off incredibly quickly by another one starting. The laughs always ended the same too, the “ha”s would shorten to the point it sounded almost like he was crying, and then silence. Most everyone who frequented the Cathedral was familiar with his laugh, for Edwin was a man who liked to laugh a lot.
“ Step one sounds good, I was getting kind of hungry actually” He said tilting his head a little into his hand as he scratched the left side of it right above his ear, causing some of the hair he had pushed behind his ear to fall in front of his face again. He did not bother moving it back; he’d just have to repeat the movement with his gigai anyway. “But as for this poking business, I think we could get sued for that now’a days.”
He fumbled with his own locker for a second as he watched Ash belt her Zanpakuto. Edwin was not immune to the bad feeling everyone got from that machete, though he figured it could not be all bad considering its owner. Setsuyaku Ibuki hated being around the thing, and Edwin knew if he thought himself into his inner world, he would get a major ranting from the old woman who inhabited his tachi. Setsuyaku Ibuki the spirit never would chime into his head, she always made sure he had to come to her for anything. As much as he did like the spirit of his Zanpakuto for being very sarcastic and in general humorous, she did certainly try to find something to lecture him about at the end of the day, much to his annoyance. They had the kind of relationship one might see between a bitter but proud master and student, whom the master likes but finds faults to try to make sure who was the superior.
The other spirit inhabiting his inner world Edwin did not know what think about. He had dubbed his inner hollow Warai as a bit of a joke, but the pathetic creature had embraced it. The truth be told Edwin pitied the creature more than anything else; the hollow looked exactly like him, except for the black and gold eyes and white skin and hair, but the creature was nothing like Edwin in terms of personality. Warai was horribly depressed, always wailing and weeping, so confused about its existence, and always going on about how it feels everyone in the world’s pain and how it just wants them all to find relief, which according to it was the time between dying and become a spirit for humans, and dying and rebirth for shinigami. Edwin more than once had tried to help the spirit to know that life was not all about pain, and that people had relief from it while alive, but the lesson would be forgotten almost as soon as it was taught.
Edwin got the locker open as Ash stepped out in her gigai. As Edwin was sucked into his own body he heard Ash’s coughing fit. Fully awake he knew better to make a comment about it, so he instead did not make a comment and stood messing with getting hair out of the face he now wore. His gigai looked exactly the same as him, wearing a fairly bright red button down short sleeve shirt that had thin black lines forming squares with random pineapples spread across it, black cargo pants, and black sneakers in just as bad of condition as the shoes he wore before entering it.
Hearing Ash essentially telling him to hurry up, he quickly closed the locker and followed her out into the fading light. With a bit of a smile he gestured at her face, “My my, this isn’t fair at all. Your gigai makes you look so good, when mine just gives me this ugly thing.” He tugged down on his skin under his eyes, pulling his eye lids down and making his face into a rather dumb one. Unlike earlier, the extra meaning of the comment was intended, he knew she knew that her gigai looked much more lively, and he was pretty sure he knew that she would take it as the joke it was; both his tone of voice and the face he was making he thought more than passed along the joking intention.
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Post by GoldenKitten on Oct 9, 2009 21:40:16 GMT -4
Despite the abandoned state of the cathedral it was not in fact apart from the city, quite the contrary it was in and amongst the buildings at the far edge of a main park in Karakura. It had been built during a brief resurgence of Catholicism directly after World War II when American troops had been stationed within the city, which at the time had been a political sector of Tokyo. However once the Treaty of San Francisco was signed all occupation ended leaving the non-Japanese population small once more and the Catholic Japanese population always was but a fraction of the overall total, even more so in the Karakura area which was and is highly traditional in nature.
So the building was abandoned and soon became home to the Vizard as their numbers exploded in the last century for reasons still being investigated. During that time many movements had been made by the locals to collapse the decrepit old building but Ash had made more than a few important contacts in her long life and each time some movement popped up an equally powerful politician or Catholic church official stepped in calling for its protection. So far this had proved sufficient, in the end Ash supposed there were plenty of places they could have moved to but Karakura was a hotbed of spiritual activity so it was good to be close, plus after so long it had become home.
Either way this close proximity served another good point, when they wanted to go somewhere in the human world they never had to walk far. Ash moved along the winding path away from the cathedral to the main sidewalk, a few times she had been spotted exiting in her gigai and given weird looks by the locals but this evening this particular stretch of road was relatively empty. It was still downtown but it wasn't directly on the main street so foot and vehicle traffic tended to be sparse. She might not have liked to move to much but she was at least capable of keeping a respectable speed up when she wanted to so that she wasn't really slowing anybody down. This did however cause her cane to make a harsh clicking noise every time it hit the ground and forced her to walk with an obvious overdone waltz, but few would have pointed it out. Though the gigai limited the pain her soul was still inside it so the restraints forced upon her still manifested in this form, even if it wasn't technically her body.
Ash gave Edwin a look of dubiety as he spoke. She did not in fact laugh or respond in any fashion other than to stare out of the corner of her eyes with a mild smile on her face the entire time he spoke. When he finished Ash spun on her cane and hobbled up toward him with the same look on her face, once she had reached him she extended her hand and poked his chest several times. Once she had his attention and they were both stopped she leaned in very close put her hand up like she was going to whisper a secret and looked him straight in the eyes.
“Inappropriate joke was inappropriate.”
She closed her eyes and cocked her head to the side briefly before she spun around once more and headed off down the road, she spoke out as she did so, “So I know theres a big cafe not to far from here but its usually really busy and I can't say I'm fond of the food, something tells me it comes out of a can and has an ingredient list long enough to scare you to death.” She half turned her torso and pointed at him while speaking in an elevated sarcastic tone, “When the list of whats in your chicken nuggets has more items than you have chicken nuggets theres a problem.” She smiled and turned back around, “Plus those are Japanese cafes, damn them I WANT A PANCAKE YOU BASTARDS!!! You hear me PANCAKES!!!?...Theres an international cafe on the main drag, we'll go there.”
They walked...or rather Edwin walked, Ash hobbled, for a significant distance until the cathedral was lost far behind them. As they got further into the actual heart of Karakura town they were swamped by people, it was closing time and plenty of people were either going home or going out just as they were. Even so amongst the crowd they stood out and did in fact get several glances, after all this wasn't a tourist sector so Caucasians of any form were rare, much less when one of them was hobbling around on a cane and wearing clothes suited for hiking through the Himalayas at winter in the middle of a Japanese summer. Ash ignored them though, she was used to getting weird stares when in this form and out on the town, better that than sitting in a bland concrete room all day long. Home or not you could have a little to much home, especially when you were being relied on all day long to solve internal disputes or decide what the group as a whole would do next.
Eventually they reached the main drag and managed to fit in a bit better, or at the very least most everybody here was younger like they appeared and so had better things to do than stare at the “Foreign whipper-snappers”, which of course given both Vizards ages was ironic. The strip itself was nothing to write home about, tall buildings with a variety of storefront choices, places like these littered Japan but this one at least had enough choices to pick from given Karakuras population density. From bookshops, to gaming centers, to traditional ramen houses if you wanted it you could find it here, but the two vizard had another mission tonight...PANCAKES...dammit.
They succeeded in finding the double decker cafe at the corner of an intersection that was dressed up to look something like a Swiss cabin with the words “Waffle Cafe” in red over the entrance. Or at least what most Japanese who had never seen a cabin before probably thought a cabin looked like, to anyone who had actually seen one it just looked like a failed attempt. But unfortunately in the big world of Japan despite numerous western culinary habits being passed on breakfast was not a popular one and so you worked with what they gave you.
Ash double-timed it to the door with obvious visions of syrup dancing in her head and forced the door open with her cane, briefly holding it open for Edwin. They were greeted by a young girl and a relatively empty cafe. Clearly this was not there busiest time and in fact due to their food it was doubtful they would stay open for any length of time...well it would be doubtful if there weren't subtle manipulations of the spiritual kind going on behind the scenes. Like hell Ash could go a week without pancakes, she would destroy the entire world of Hueco Mundo if it meant keeping them around...mmmmmmm...pancakes.
A few moments later they were walked to a booth not to far from the front. Ash had to laugh in her mind at the fact that there were several completely unfitting decorations of both Asian and European nature that had nothing to do with the shops theme stuck everywhere. Well, she spared a few moments to laugh internally about this...then she went back to thinking about pancakes. The waitress girl scarcely had time to sit them down when Ash yelled out that she wanted thirty-five pancakes and a large pot of coffee, in fact she suggested the girl just bring the coffee machine...the girl declined after recuperating from the surprise, said she would bring pancakes though. Ash was pleased enough with this. The girl looked to Edwin and after whatever response he gave her she walked off to do her job.
Ash looked over at Edwin, eyes alight with glee, “Pancakes in Japan! Modern day progression! World wide communication of ideas and concepts, BRILLIANT, didn't have that in my day I tell you. Pancakes, hehe...” Ash sat tapping her fingers together like an evil genius for a moment before her face turned serious and she looked to Edwin, “We haven't talked about it yet privately have we? The Syndicate as a whole has been speaking about it but it may be about time we get the council members together and take an official stance. The attack on Las Noches, all those leaders on both sides of the conflict dieing. Things are bound to change and I fear that as hard as we may try beings of our stature and power cannot hope to be ignored if conflict in the spiritual realm is coming.” She toyed with the fork that had been set out for customers, spinning it with her finger and driving the prongs downward.
She gestured with a free hand toward him, “Do you have any personal thoughts as to how we should respond should this come to us?”
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Post by Zhiel on Oct 10, 2009 19:50:12 GMT -4
"Are you going to let it end like this, Azerin?" A voice asked, sounding more like a multi-faceted echo than coming directly from a single being. Yet this was how Hitozarai, Zhiel Azerin's zanpakutou spirit spoke. Azerin himself was asleep, but was slowly awakened by the voice, and as he sat up in the dank alley he had decided to take a rest in, the full meaning of what Hitozarai had said to him sank in. Looking around, to make sure he was alone (Though he knew normal humans could not see him, he preferred to not take the risk of there being a spirit sensitive around), Azerin then closed his eyes as he spoke silently like if to himself, but to those familiar with Shinigami would realize he was communicating with his zanpakutou spirit. Of course, you could do so in your mind, but Azerin did not want to risk the hollow within him hearing what he said.
"What would you have me do..? The hollows will is too powerful for me to directly confront it, and I have no allies who could help me..." He was clearly not an optimist about the hollow that was parasiting on his soul. "If you have no allies, then find some. And if you cannot make allies, then temper your will. The man I gave up my name for would never surrender this easily." Hitozarai said, and though it was hard to make out emotions or intentions in the spirits voice, Azerin knew it was disappointed in him, but probably also sympathetic. Even so, making allies, huh?
Finally standing up, wrapping the black rags of what was left of the "uniform" he had been wearing upon achieving control once again around him, Azerin took another look around before he tied the sheath of Hitozarai to his waist and treaded silently to the alleys opening. He had taken shelter in one of the more crowded areas of Karakura town in order to avoid drawing the attention of both Soul Society and the human faction which seemed intent on hunting him, and other spirits down. He had already had an encounter with the humans armed with what appeared to be heavily armored protective suits and modern weaponry that fired spiritually charged bullets. That time he had avoided them, and since leaving the Tokyo area they seemed to have lost track of him, or given up chase. Because of this Azerin had decided to spend the night in Karakura town instead.
Once he popped his head out of the alley he was met with the suns glare, which made him shield his eyes, but it only took him a few seconds to get used to it and as he did he noticed that there was indeed a large crowd on the streets. Turning back into the alley, Azerin walked up close to a fire ladder that were a few meters above the ground as he jumped up to it, before he used it to get up on the roof of the three story tall building. If he wanted to make allies, he would need to find them first, and the ones that could most likely help him the most were the Vizards. As a prior member of Squad 10, most of the stronger or more experienced members had guarded parts of Karakura or Tokyo once or twice at the least, and so it was not too uncommon for there to be rumors of vizard sightings within the capital city of Japan every now and then, and so he came to the conclusion they must have some form of base or headquarters around the area, probably hiding where there already is a huge mass of souls so as to not stick out as much. Though finding their home would probably not be an easy task.
Saying it would not be an easy task had been an underestimation, for it had taken Azerin the entire day of searching, while stopping to question some stray spirits (Who sadly was quite intimidated by the mask fragment covering most of his faces left side, and the golden eye behind it.), though in the end he had made results, with a young teen-looking girl spirit saying she had seen a few other spirits with swords come out of the presumably abandoned Cathedral. Azerin nearly slapped himself for not realizing it as a perfect hiding spot, it was so out in the open, no one would suspect it to be where a bunch of shinigami refugees were holed up away from Soul Societies watchful eyes. Either way, he thanked the spirit before he headed off in the direction of the cathedral.
And once he had reached it, stopping at the edge of a roof opposite of the large building, it became quite clear to Azerin there was something amiss with the whole thing. It became increasingly obvious that this was indeed the site, for even if he could not see it Azerin could feel a powerful sensation from around the site. It was most likely protected by a barrier, preventing the surveilance equipment of Seireitei or whatever that human faction used to track spirits, from noticing them. They were hiding in plain sight, quite genius. With his reiatsu suppressed as well as he could, Azerin hid at the roof as he observed the front of the cathedral, even if this was indeed the Vizard's home it would not be wise to just wander right into it. It would be wiser to wait for one of the Vizard to leave, and then to confront them alone. Because then, even if it broke out into a fight, he still had a fighting chance, or could make a run for it.
Luckily for Azerin, he did not have to wait long. Unluckily though, it was not a single vizard that left the building, but two who traveled in a pair, wearing gigai. (Of course, he could not tell they were Vizard through their gigai at this distance, but what was the chance you would find two so oddly paired humans exiting a ruined cathedral? Not to mention the invisible barrier over the place. No, they were definitely vizard. However that they were two made Azerin hesitate, for he could not gauge their strength or experience while they were in gigai, and as he did not plan on starting a fight their current strength were meaningless. It would be safer to just wait for another one to exit... However that it had taken almost an hour for two to come out, and that he had spent an entire day on this already, did not bode well for him. He could only hold the hollow back for so long before it took control again. He would have to gamble.
And so Azerin began to tail the two with a fair distance between them, suppressing his reiatsu as well as he could along the way, and making sure he was always out of their line of sight. If they managed to notice him now, they were most likely out of his league to begin with, which could end up being both good and bad. Despite these pessimistic thoughts Azerin continued his pursuit, finally ending with the two going into some kind of restaurant, from which Azerin went right on the roof of the place as he laid down flat, pressing his ear against it to see if he could discern any sounds, while he stretched out his senses, to see if he could pick up any stray reiatsu sensations from the two, though he severely doubted the first would work as he had no idea about the thickness or isolation of the roof itself.
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Post by jeckal on Oct 11, 2009 1:53:27 GMT -4
Edwin was sure he crossed some kind of line with the joke, it really was his lot in life to tell jokes that ended up doing more harm than good. Having grown up in a tavern, and then spent many years on a ship, the only humor Edwin was exposed to growing up was rather vile. It was for this reason his attempts at clean humor always ended up flopping, sometimes spectacularly so, and many times, like he was sure was going to happen now, it ended with him in pain.
He could not quite read her face as she poked him in the chest. An amused smile? An concealed anger perhaps? From her staring into his eyes, Edwin was expecting a smack on the face from the cane or something similar, so he was most relived when she just leaned in and whispered that his joke was inappropriate. “Hehehe, sorry.” Edwin chuckled, scratching the back of his neck with his right hand. He started walking again when she did, he did not move his legs fast, but his strides were long and he staid to the left of Ash. Across his face was a very bemused smile as she rambled about the issues of finding good pancakes in Japan.
As they walked along Edwin merely gave half waves and smiles to anyone whose eyes lingered on them that he saw. He was so use to getting attention from being a gaijin. His entire time in Japan while he was alive, any visitors to his daimyo’s court would be both surprised and a bit disturbed by the fact that Edwin was always seated near the lord. They would be even more disturbed when Edwin would translate for the daimyo when speaking to the English merchants, for he had gotten to know the daimyo and the language so well he could speak with the daimyo, only having to hear the first sound of a word to know what he was saying, and being able to accurately guess at sentences. Both Edwin and his daimyo got silent amusement out of the unnerved face merchants and servants alike would get.
Edwin raised his eyebrow when they got to the rather poor imitation of a log cabin, he was quite concerned about what kind of quality the food would be, considering whether to even risk eating or not while inside. He snapped out of his pondering when he saw Ash had the door open for him, quickly leaped forward and held the door with his own hand as he entered and nodded his head in thanks to her. From Ash’s enthusiasm about getting pancakes, Edwin had no doubt the waitress would probably be in for a long shift. She was kind of cute though, he thought, and he made sure to be polite and smile as she seated them. He found himself again with a raised eyebrow from Ash’s order, and he tried to stifle back a laugh, as the waitress turned to him he pondered for a moment.
“Umm, could I get toast? Just some toast and some spread, strawberry preferably, thank you very much.” He said as kind as he could. As the waitress scurried off he turned back to Ash. Placing his right arm on the table he propped up his head with it and bit lightly at the nail of his pinky. “Truly is a momentous advancement in society” he said cheerfully in response to her clear excitement about getting actual pancakes.
His gnawing on his nail intensified as he was asked his thoughts on recent events. He had known the question would be coming eventually, but he really was not sure what course of action the Vizards should take. He closed his eyes and just bit at his nail for a few moments before opening his eyes again and lowering his finger from his mouth. “I’ve been having trouble with this. You know me, I don’t like action without knowing as much as possible, and I don’t like assuming things.”
He sighed, running his hands through his hair, staring up at Ash solemnly, “I don’t think we can be quite as passive as that though…I just don’t trust them, and I highly doubt they will stop with Los Noches.” It would become obvious he was not entirely comfortable with what he was suggesting.
“I’m not saying we strike at them…but I do think we need to start getting in contact with anyone opposing them. If they make any sort of move on this world, I doubt they will just leave us alone, and if it comes down to fighting, any allies we have against them will lesson Vizard casualties.”
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Post by GoldenKitten on Oct 11, 2009 18:28:44 GMT -4
Ash set her elbows on the table and formed the “contemplation pyramid of doom” with her fingers most Vizards were familiar with when she was thinking seriously. She brought the tips of her fingers together in the shape of a cone and then set the bottom of her face into it, only showing her eyes. She looked straight through Edwin the entire time he spoke and never interrupted or tried to talk his ideas up or down. Ash was rather well known for her listening skills, she never cut anyone off no matter how stupid she thought their ideas unless of course time was a factor. Of course this was a learned behavior and she hadn't always been that way, but it didn't do well for someone seen in a maternal and caring light to go around being impatient. Plus every once in a while somebody actually had a good idea, it paid to listen to everything that went on around you. When Edwin had finished she removed her hands and sat back in the booth, shrugging slightly as she responded.
“Hmmm...perhaps...”
She left it at that and before anymore could be said the waitress came back with their drinks, Edwin's toast and five of the pancakes, explaining that they needed time to make them all. In the time it took her to put it all on the table the pancakes were gone in a motion of extreme gluttony that neither the girl or even Edwin who had seen much in his long life could possibly compare it to. To this day all who have viewed this amazing act can only speak of it with held-back tears, fearful seizures and eyes full of wonderment, none can describe it in mortal words. She then ripped the large cup of coffee out of the girls hands, downed it in roughly three seconds and handed it back to her simply stating, “More” before sitting back and patting her tummy letting out a long, “Ahhhhhh~~~!”. She held her hands up in front of her face and squeezed them tightly along with her eyes while shaking her head back and forth like some sort of high schooler, “Pancakes!”
It was entirely impossible that she had derived any taste out of it that quickly, but for what it was worth the food here was an appreciable copy of its true form. Some might wonder why Ash ate so fast and in fact how she could possibly eat so much at all but there was in fact a very obvious answer if one just used their brain momentarily. Her sickness was not normal, it was not an actual illness but rather a constant drain and internal putrefaction of her soul energy. Unlike most souls those with significant soul power had to eat food, because her soul power was constantly being weakened instead of staying at a set level it had to keep being rejuvenated. Over a long period of time this had cumulated in her developing the habit of eating grotesque amounts to combat the decay of her spiritual energy, the more often she replenished her energy reserves the longer her body could fight against her inner hollow. However the fact that she kept being drained meant she never gained weight despite the gluttony and in fact was slowly losing ground all the time.
As the waitress walked away, still recovering from the sight she had just witnessed in a dizzy daze Ash once more shifted back to serious mode and looked toward Edwin with lazy eyes, “Ashiru can probably help if we decide to take that route, he has more connections than us in Hueco Mundo. Maybe Mang-gwiha though he's picky in who he helps as always...I don't think you've ever met him but I'm sure you have heard. The shinigami will no doubt be facing them, but then theres a reason we don't often interact with them now isn't there? I have to say if we are talking allies though the newest one may be our best bet, Torre the ex-Tres Espada.”
She paused momentarily and her eyes fluttered toward the ceiling as if she could actually see through it to the thing sitting on the roof, “...Stealthy.” she commented sarcastically.
She looked back to Edwin, “Anyhow I hear she's been making friends with the local human element. Speaking with them may be to our benefit since unlike the others this is their home just as it is ours, they are more likely to fight for its complete protection.” She nodded several times before giving a bit of a sardonic smile, “Who knows, maybe I'll even bring you with me so you can pester them with all those questions about Arrancar you've always got rolling around your skull?”
The waitress arrived at that point with more pancakes and coffee, this time she almost lost an arm when she was too slow at setting them down.
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Post by jeckal on Oct 13, 2009 2:45:07 GMT -4
Edwin opened his mouth to ask what Ash thought that they should do, but before he could their food had arrived. Edwin thanked the waitress as he looked down at his toast and little rectangular packets of jam; he was both thankful and mortified that he just happened to look up when he did, for if he had hesitated even a moment, he would have missed the horrifying and bewildering spectacle that science agrees, can only be seen when Pancakes and Ash are put in similar proximity, an experiment one should never try at home. While the results are surely something very impressive, they are also not for the weak constitution, and it was something once seen, could never be unseen.
A bit wide-eyed from the affair, Edwin’s first reaction and the only reaction his brain could muster was to remove his glasses and wipe them off on his shirt. This heavily ingrained action was a way Edwin cleared his mind, though he probably did not even realize that the action and new focus that it brought were linked together in any fashion. Perhaps it was because the action required absolutely no thought to perform, it was literal instinct now. Performing this action that he had performed on average 40 times a day for a few centuries reminded his brain of reality, and helped it move on from whatever it was currently stuck on.
Slipping his glasses back on, he blinked a few times before picking up one of the jam packets and opening it. He considered making a quick comment like ‘So much for keeping a low profile’ or ‘You’re going to break your gigai’ or something equally as lame, however when he thought back to how ambiguously neutral his last joke around Ash went over, he decided against taking the comedic opportunity. He again opened his mouth to ask what she thought they should do, but before he made a noise he was thrown off by the cutely juvenile expression Ash made.
Before he opened his mouth for a third time to ask her thoughts on the matter, and given a few more seconds he surely would have, she had turned serious and was answering his question without him ever actually asking. Taking his knife he scooped out the contents of the packet he had opened and spread it across the surface of the crispy bread. Edwin enjoyed the scrapping sound it produced; it was just a small audio pleasure of his. Putting down his knife and returning the packet to the little plate it and about 10 others had come on; he picked up the now jammed toast and took a bite while listening to Ash.
Burnt, the bearded Vizard thought grimly as he put the piece of toast back down. Something few people, at least according to Edwin, seemed to realize is that there is a difference between toasted bread and burnt bread. Picking up another jam packet and opening it, he proceeded to spread jam on the other side of the piece of toast. Edwin considered himself lucky that anything wrong with the toasting of toast could be remedied with the addition of more spread. Delicately holding the piece in the corner where he had not put any jam, he brought it up to his mouth and took another bite. Satisfied with how it tasted now, Edwin finished the piece, little crumbs scattered in the hair around his mouth which seemed to insist on stay there even after he ran his hand through trying to get rid of them.
Edwin did not glance up when she did, merely answering her comment on the stealth of their apparent follower with a nod and the word “Quite.” He had not actually noticed the person, though he would be damned to let that show. When with others the thought would often slip his mind to pay attention to spiritual pressure around him, a bad habit he knew, but it kept escaping his mind to do something about it.
“That sounds good to me anyways.” Edwin replied, his face clearly showing interest in meeting a former Espada. “I can’t say for sure how the rest of the council will feel, but I doubt there will be too many objections to It.” he chuckled slightly, adding, “At least as long as we don’t include the shinigami.”
After the waitress’s delivery, and Ash’s quick consumption of the second round of pancakes, Edwin began spreading jam on both sides of his next piece of toast, watching the waitress walk away with an amused but pitying look.He quipped once he was sure the waitress was out of ear shot, “We need to make sure to give her a good tip.”
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Post by GoldenKitten on Oct 13, 2009 8:45:14 GMT -4
Doing little more than continuously nodding at Edwin as he responded she was still consuming yummy delicious pancakes. Of course the rate of that consumption had dropped slightly but she was still a fearsome pancake consuming force of nature, wild pancakes beware their age-old foe. Despite this Ash was still thinking about what had been said and also thinking about their tail, she didn't suppose it was to hard to find and track them if one wanted but she was surprised anyone would even try. She was brought out of these thoughts when Edwin mentioned the tip, Ash not usually liking attention brought to her voracious appetite like any female simply looked across the table at Edwin with dead eyes for several moments.
“What, a big tip for your burnt toast?” she finally quipped in return also displaying her natural attention to detail being able to spot the toasts only slightly burnt nature from afar that typically only someone picky like Edwin would have noted in the first place.
Ash changed her attention and wrapped her fingers on the table once more and looked toward the roof, “I guess it's not going to leave, maybe I should go see whats going on?”
She took her right arm and grabbed her shoulder shoving it back several times so it cracked, she then performed the same ritual with the other. Just as it looked like she was about to take action the waitress arrived with her last set of yummy pancakes, despite the keen look in her eyes at the arrival of more food she decided to ignore them. Instead she looked at Edwin and gave a mischievous grin, then pointed at the waitress while sporting a surprised face.
“AAHHH!!! FOOD COMA!!! BUUULAAARRRGGHHH!!!”
Ash's true spirit form exploded out of her gigais back and in an instant she had disappeared out the restaurants front. Edwin was left with an empty gigai slumping face first into a plate of pancakes with a resounding 'thwump'. At first it was evident that the waitress thought this was some poor joke on Ash's part, that was until she realized she wasn't moving or breathing. And then the squealing began, and the calling 119 and the utter emergency of it all...quite amusing really, one couldn't hide the feeling that Ash had done it entirely just for this purpose though in reality there was more to it than that. If the humans were busy taking care of that they wouldn't get wrapped up in any battle that might be about to ensue and once the emergency services arrived they would force anybody not directly involved away from the building while they worked giving Ash less to worry about. Of course she might also just have been getting back at Edwin for calling her fat, or at least allot what sounded like treading closely to calling her fat...even if she wasn't remotely close THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
Planting her foot firmly on the ground just a few steps outside of the entrance she launched amazingly high into the air and performed a complete spin backwards gliding over the top of the building. She came down, landing directly behind the spy in one fell swoop and unhinging Samael from its make-shift holster and holding it out along the creatures shoulder. Even suppressing her power and looking as weak as she was anyone with spiritual sense could have told how utterly outclassed the hollow-thing was.
“Helllllllllloooooo~~~~!” (OOC: I am Lindsay Lohan!) Ash sing-songed.
For the briefest moment a dark, perhaps even malevolent look crossed Ash's face and then in a split second it was gone as her body clinched and she let out a minor, “ahhhh...” under her breath. Her blade pulled away from him and she grasped her knee with her free hand first and then let go of her blade all-together letting it fall to the ground and began using that hand to massage her knee as well. She sunk down slightly and one could clearly see tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
“Gaaahhhh...oooooohhh god....oooohhhhh that hurt....ahhhhhhhh....ooohhhhh soooooooo....ahhhhh what are you......doing here?.....ahhhhhh, ahhhhhh, oh no, ahhhh, my knee....”
Ash finally clinched her eyes closed and tried to go silent, this merely resulted in muffled whimpers. It might be difficult to tell just how serious she was being given that this thing did not know her, but Ash was being dead serious. It was just...THAT HURT A FUCKING LOT!!!
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Post by Zhiel on Oct 13, 2009 21:30:14 GMT -4
Azerin was by far not a trained spy or assassin like the members of the second division, but he still had some basic training which he could apply for when he needed to make soft landings or run silently. His biggest flaw was probably his skill with suppressing his reiatsu, for while he was pretty skilled with controlling it, he was still inexperienced and thus had to keep focused when doing so. Someone of captain level would most likely notice him even through the roof of the three story tall building, but he was doing this under the assumption that they were not of that level. Really, if they were it was very unlikely he would be able to stalk them for long after they left the establishment either way, so it was better to just take a chance and hope they would split up after they were finished eating.
After a few seconds Azerin came to the pretty obvious conclusion that the actual restaurant place was on the first floor of the building, and thus he would be unable to hear the conversation of the two presumed to be vizards. So rather than remaining flat on the roof, Azerin sat up in a crouched position before he moved closer to the edge, so that he could see the street below for when they left. He was expecting this to take a while though, since they both had to order food, get their food and then eat it, would most likely take at least thirty minutes up to an hour depending on their pace, luckily Azerin was patient.
Not so luckily however, one of the two vizard had sensed him when he came too close, and a few minutes after she did, decided to go check on him. Though Kehieleth might have noticed her making her appearance, Azerin did not and only noticed there was someone by him when he heard the sound of Ash landing on the roof right behind him, which caused him to flinch and almost jump right up. The presence of a blade over his shoulder however caused him to freeze up as his mind raced for a solution to his current predicament, however he found none. Azerin gulped as he slowly turned his head to look at the person behind him, sweat rolling down his brow. It was quite clear this woman was far above him in the hierarchy of power.
Her 'joyful' greeting made the difference in their power all the more obvious, she did not even need to act serious infront of him, and in a way that irritated him, but he knew better than to act rashly in this kind of situation. And then... The woman started doing something completely unexpected, as she started to groan while massaging her knee, even pulling the sword away from him and then simply dropping it. Part of him told him that "this was his chance", but the rational side, the one not influenced by the hollow, knew that her previous display meant he would be unable to harm her. That, and he was not here to fight so drawing his sword or even approaching her would be folly. Instead he stood up slowly and turned around, though whether it was conscious or not, he kept his head angled to his left, making the mask fragment on his left side barely visible, while he wrapped the rags around his torso tighter, hiding any hollow carapace that might otherwise stick out.
Now that he was looking straight at her, he could immediately tell it was the woman who he had been tailing, yet she seemed difference somehow... Though the distance had been too long and she had been wearing pretty thick clothing. Either way, through her muffled whimpers she managed to produce a question, which wasn't that odd considering the circumstances but could anyone blame Azerin for feeling awkward? This girl easily had the strength to kick his ass with her pinky finger, and now she stood there like if someone had broken her leg in two. "I.. I wanted to speak with one of the Vizard... But I was uncertain of how your group stands toward outsiders, so I did not want to take any chances, but I do not have the luxury of time either... I was hoping you could help me." Azerin answered honestly. He figured that there would be no point in lying to this person, for while she might seem vulnerable and pre-occupied that could just as well be a guise. Of course, he had not told her everything just yet, but he would prefer to know whether he could trust them before doing so.
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Post by jeckal on Oct 15, 2009 23:14:51 GMT -4
Edwin was speechless, literally, he could not think of a single thing to say, much to the stress of those around him. Ash’s departure and subsequent leaving of a lifeless body had left all eyes on said body, but now they had moved off Ash and on to him. Oh sure, he heard the screams asking him if she had any allergies or preexisting conditions, and he even heard when they changed to frantic pleads for him to do something, but that was the thing, Edwin could not do something about this. He could not fathom why Ash would pull such a joke, it certainly was not funny.
After a few unbelievably long seconds to those watching, Edwin removed his glasses and wiped them on his shirt, sure they were clean, but he needed to do it in order to be able to think. Once they were resting safely on his head, Edwin slowly picked up the last piece of toast and popped it in his mouth. This act left everyone in the restaurant without a single thing to say. Edwin bit his tongue, now that he could actually think a coherent thought, he found himself thinking that the whole situation indeed was not funny, it was absolutely hilarious. Struggling hard not to crack up, he calmly stood and reached into his pocket. The crowd waited in silence, their very breath hung on Edwin’s actions.
Removing his wallet, Edwin threw way too much money on the table, and then dropped the wallet as he moved to leave the restaurant. Not that the wallet had anything identifying in it, the license inside was for one Juan Fernandez, and had a picture of a tan man with a very curly black mustache, and whose address was listed as 1060 West Addison, Chicago, Illinois. He had taken it from some drunk tourist while he was out with Mitsu. Taken was not the best word actually, the truth was the drunk foreigner had handed it over to him, telling him his beard was dumb, and he sould grow a fine mustache like that one. After a short facial hair debate, the man grumbled off, barely keeping his balance, and clearly forgetting Edwin had his licenses. Walking out the door, he heard ambulances coming in the distance and also heard a commotion starting again inside as the people recovered from Edwin’s complete lack of care for what just happened.
“Need to hide this thing” Edwin mumbled, moving into an alley beside the restaurant. A quick scan revealed a dumpster by the back door, with a sigh and a mumble of “Good Enough.” Edwin moved up to it, his nose twitching more and more at the repugnant odor oozing from the metal polygon. Opening the lid carefully, Edwin nearly barfed at the smell that might as well as literally punched him in the face. Never the less it was the best place, he thought as he jumped in a closed the door.
He felt something squishy in his old shoe and he reached down and grabbed it. Much to his disgust it was a half eaten pancake, which was currently being finished eaten by multiple maggots. Not being able to hold it back, Edwin quickly grabbed the first thing he could find, one of those small paper containers for ketchup, and spewed in it, most of the vomit getting on him. “That’s it, you’re staying in here” Edwin coughed sickly as he leaped from the gigai and out of the trash, and up to the roof. He landed in-between and too the side of Ash and Azerin.
Having not heard a single word of the conversation so far, Edwin chimed in quickly, “So…what’s goin’ on here?” He slipped his hands into his jacket pocket, and quickly glanced down at his Zanpakuto. He grimaced slightly at the severe lecturing he was going to get from Setsuyaku Ibuki for not only forcing her to be around Ash’s Zanpakuto, but now for having been rolling around in trash and his own vomit.
Meanwhile, down in the alley, a cook slipped out the back door, a bag of trash in his hand. “Ugh, I can’t believe that woman is probably dead, this is the first time I’ve heard of any one getting sick from our food, much less dying!” He exclaimed to no one but himself as he shook his head. Opening the trash can, he dropped the bag turning white from what he saw. A dead body covered in vomit in a rather colorful red shirt covered with pineapples.
“I…I…It’s…it’s a conspiracy! THE FOOD IS POISON!!!!” The man yelled, running off into the ever enclosing night.
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Post by GoldenKitten on Oct 22, 2009 15:30:41 GMT -4
Ash still found herself hopping in circles gripping her knee as the man-thing ((OOC: Haha, “man-thing”….awww…now I feel immature *sad)) began to speak and Edwin showed up not to long after. However as she began to really pay attention to the one before her she stopped, it wasn’t that the pain went away but rather that the whole of her attention was now on their guest. She sheathed her blade and walked up toward him looking straight into his face and the mask that covered half of it. In the background sirens wailed and excited voices called back and forth, she normally would have been amused by what she had done but now as the wheels in her brain turned she couldn’t even hear it all. After a long time she let out a low ‘ahhhh’ as if coming to a realization and finally spoke.
“You…your like me, its infected your body hasn’t it?” She reached out to touch his mask with one of her fingers though if he let her do so or not was up to him. “But no, you’re not quite the same. Tell me is it just your body or are you having trouble controlling your mind as well?” She began to launch into a scientist repertoire of questions without even properly greeting the man before she caught herself and shook her hands stopping herself.
“Wait, first, what is it your wanting help with?”, though she asked it was clearly written on her face that she wanted to get back to her previous line of questioning, she had never met someone that so closely mirrored her situation before.
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Post by Zhiel on Oct 24, 2009 8:15:06 GMT -4
As he answered the womans question, she went from hopping around on one leg to what appeared to be listening intently, whether his appearance or his words caught her attention he did not know. Shortly after he finished the other vizard showed up, more or less as instantly as the woman which caused Azerin to recoil visibly before he calmed down a moment later, if anything it was obvious he was on edge. Turning back to the woman he noted how she picked her zanpakutou back up and put it in its sheath, a good start at the very least, before she walked up to him and looked him in the face.
There was a long silence as the woman just observed him, causing quite the unnerving feeling for Azerin, before she finally let out a sound of realization and spoke. “You…your like me, its infected your body hasn't it?” Azerin had mixed reactions to these words, for one he did not exactly understand what she meant with 'like me', she certainly did not seem to be growing hollow carapace, though it could be figurative, in the form of their inner hollow trying to take over through a unusual method. There was really no way for him to tell exactly what she had meant, but it piqued his interest and lit a hope in that they could help him after all.
But as she finished speaking she reached out with one of her hands, seemingly trying to touch the mask fragment on his face. This caused him to recoil a bit as some kind of reaction, but it was just an inch and after that he stopped as if realizing she was not threatening him. However when she came in contact with the mask the golden eye behind it seemed to grow threatening, nearly savage for a second, before reverting to normal. Out of interest there was that it was only the gold eye that did so...
He was about to speak when the woman interrupted as she pulled her hand back. “But no, you're not quite the same. Tell me is it just your body or are you having trouble controlling your mind as well?” And as she began to go into question mode Azerin could only stammer as he had a hard time following her or where to start, he looked quite bewildered by the whole thing too. "I.. That is... But... I..." He was about to give up, but the woman seemed to realize that approach wouldn't work and waved her hands in front of her before she went back to what he had said earlier, asking what he wanted help with.
Azerin was silent for a few seconds as he contemplated the question, sure he knew what he wanted help with, that was simple. The question was, how should he explain it? He settled with just going with the flow, as thinking too deeply would get him nowhere. "I guess I should start by introducing myself... My name is Zhiel Azerin, I used to be the thi... Tenth seat of the tenth division..." He began, frowning as he stared at the ground when he was about to mention his former third seat position. "I've heard a lot about you Vizard, but I've never actually met one. From what I can tell of my... Condition... I've got a hollow in me trying to take over, and nothing I've done has been able to stop it, it's will is just too strong. I came seeking help, or at the very least, some information in how to deal with this because it has already used my body to cause havoc and kill, and I do not want this to happen again..." Azerin explained, though it became obvious as he spoke that he feared the hollow in a way, but more likely feared what it would do using him as it's host.
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